JP4565037B2 - LIGHT SOURCE MODULE AND LIGHT SOURCE DEVICE AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE HAVING THE SAME - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a light source module using a light emitting diode (LED) as a light source as an example.

  Conventionally, planar or linear light source modules using linear light guides are used in general lighting applications such as fluorescent lamp replacement, backlights for liquid crystal televisions, scanners, and copiers. Examples of the light source module using such a light guide plate include those described in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-100224), Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-511050), and the like.

  FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a conventional light source module using such a light guide plate. As shown in FIG. 21, this conventional light source module comprises a light guide 101, a light source 102 and a light source 103 including a coupling component (reflector) for coupling light to the light guide 101, and a light extraction structure. And a plurality of scatterers 104. Light emitted from the light sources 102 and 103 is coupled to the light guide plate 101 and guided through the light guide 101 by repeating total reflection. At this time, the light incident on the scatterer 104 formed on the light guide 101 is reflected and scattered, and is not emitted from the light guide 101 without satisfying the total reflection condition. FIG. 22 shows the result of calculating the intensity distribution of the emitted light from the light guide 101 shown in FIG. The horizontal axis of FIG. 22 represents the position coordinate X in the direction from the light source 102 to the light source 103 in the light guide 101, and X = 0 is the position coordinate of the center of the light guide 101 between the light source 102 and the light source 103. It is said. The vertical axis in FIG. 22 represents the relative intensity of the emitted light. Further, here, the dimension (height) of the light guide body 101 in the normal direction Y of the light exit surface 101A of the light guide body 101 is 6 mm, and the light guide direction (optical axis direction) X from the light source 102 to the light source 103 is X. The dimension (width) of the light guide body 101 in the direction Z orthogonal to the normal direction Y is 10 mm. The intensity of the emitted light indicates a value on a plane that is 14 mm away from the emitting surface 101A in the normal direction Y.

  Incidentally, in recent years, liquid crystal televisions have been required to be further thinned for reasons such as design, space saving, and resource saving. In addition, in order to reduce the thickness of the entire liquid crystal television, it is essential to reduce the thickness of the backlight. For this reason, it is necessary to emit light with high diffusion from the light source module used for the backlight. For example, when a linear light source module is used as a light source for a backlight of a liquid crystal television, it is desirable to emit light with high diffusion, and it is desirable to further widen the light intensity distribution shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, in the conventional example, this light diffusibility is not considered at all. For this reason, in the structure of a prior art example, the diffusibility of emitted light is inadequate and there exists a problem that the backlight apparatus cannot be reduced in thickness. Also, for general lighting applications, being able to emit light with high diffusion means that it is possible to uniformly illuminate a wider area, which is necessary.

JP 2002-100224 A JP 2006-511050 A

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a light source module capable of emitting light from a light guide body with high diffusion.

In order to solve the above problems, a light source module of the present invention includes a light source,
A light guide having at least one incident surface on which light from the light source is incident and an exit surface for emitting the light incident from the incident surface;
E Bei a scatterer which scatters the light incident on the light guide member with formed adjacent contact surface of the light guide adjacent to the incident surface of the light guide,
The scatterer that scatters the light incident on the light guide is formed on at least three adjacent surfaces that are adjacent to the incident surface of the light guide and continue to the incident surface,
Two adjacent surfaces on both sides of one of the three adjacent surfaces are
A first region adjacent to the one adjacent surface; and a second region further away from the one adjacent surface than the first region, the first and second regions In one of the regions, a reflector that reflects light from the light guide is formed on the scatterer, and in the other of the first and second regions, the scatterer is formed on the scatterer. A reflector that reflects light from the light guide is not formed .

  According to the light source module of the present invention, since the scatterer is formed on at least two adjacent surfaces of the light guide, incident light is scattered on a plurality of surfaces of the light guide so as to be opposite to the two adjacent surfaces. The light beam can be emitted from the side surface, and the light can be emitted with higher diffusion.

  Moreover, in the light source module of one embodiment, the scatterer is formed in a linear pattern, and at least one of a line width and an interline distance of the scatterer of the linear pattern is separated from the light source. It changes according to the distance.

  According to the light source module of this embodiment, the intensity distribution of the emitted light in the light guide direction of the light guide is controlled by changing the pattern shape of the scatterer according to the distance away from the light source. It becomes possible.

  In one embodiment, the linear pattern of the scatterer has a region in which the line width of the scatterer increases as the distance away from the light source increases.

  In the light source module of one embodiment, the linear pattern of the scatterer has a region in which the distance between the lines of the scatterer decreases as the distance away from the light source increases.

  According to the light source module of this embodiment, as the light guided in the light guide decreases as the distance from the light source decreases, scattering by the scatterer is likely to occur, so that the emitted light intensity can be made uniform.

  Moreover, in the light source module of one embodiment, the scatterer is formed in a spotted pattern, and at least one of the size and density of the scatterer of the spotted pattern is separated from the light source. It changes according to.

  According to the light source module of the embodiment, the intensity distribution of the emitted light in the light guide direction of the light guide is controlled by changing the pattern shape of the scatterer according to the distance away from the light source. It becomes possible.

  In one embodiment, the spotted pattern of the scatterer has a region in which the size of the scatterer increases as the distance from the light source increases.

  In one embodiment, the spotted pattern of the scatterer has a region where the density of the scatterer increases as the distance from the light source increases.

  According to the light source module of the above embodiment, since the light guided in the light guide decreases as the distance from the light source decreases, scattering by the scatterer is likely to occur, so that the intensity of the emitted light can be made uniform.

  In one embodiment, the scatterers formed on the two adjacent surfaces are formed in the same pattern.

  According to the light source module of this embodiment, light can be scattered in the same manner on the two adjacent surfaces of the light guide.

  In one embodiment of the light source module, a scatterer formed on one of the two adjacent surfaces and a scatterer formed on the other adjacent surface of the two adjacent surfaces. The formation pattern is different.

  According to the light source module of this embodiment, the light scattering state can be made different between one of the two adjacent surfaces of the light guide and the other adjacent surface.

  In one embodiment of the light source module, the light guide has a polygonal cross-sectional shape extending in a direction orthogonal to the light guide direction for guiding the light incident from the incident surface. And the area of the cross section by the said orthogonal plane is constant in the said light guide direction.

  According to the light source module of this embodiment, the light emission area of the light guide in the light guide direction can be made uniform.

  Moreover, in the light source module of one embodiment, the cross-sectional shape by the plane orthogonal to the light guide direction which guides the light incident from the incident surface is a polygonal shape, and the light guide is in the light guide direction. On the other hand, the cross-sectional area of the orthogonal plane extending in the orthogonal direction decreases toward the light guide direction.

  According to the light source module of this embodiment, the light emission area can be reduced toward the light guide direction of the light guide.

  In the light source module of one embodiment, the light guide has a dimension in the normal direction of the emission surface that is not less than one-tenth of a dimension in the width direction orthogonal to the normal direction on the orthogonal plane. .

  According to the light source module of this embodiment, the height of the light guide (the dimension in the normal direction) is set to 1/10 or more of the width of the light guide, so that the emission surface, and Light can be emitted from both side surfaces of the light guide body extending in the normal direction, and the light can be emitted with higher diffusion while suppressing the anisotropy of the emission of the light flux. Therefore, a light source module capable of irradiating a light beam over a wide range can be obtained.

  In one embodiment, the light source device includes a plurality of the light source modules, and each light source module is arranged on the substrate with the direction of the adjacent surface of the light guide formed with the scatterers aligned.

  According to the light source device of this embodiment, a thin planar light source device can be realized by including the light source module capable of emitting light with high diffusion.

In one embodiment, the first distance between the light source module located at one end of the array and the edge of the substrate on one end side of the array is a light source module located at the other end of the array; Shorter than a second distance between the edge of the substrate on the other end of the array, and
The light source module located at one end of the array has the scatterer not formed on a surface facing the edge of the substrate on one end side of the array, and the light source module located at the other end of the array The scatterer is formed on a surface facing the edge of the substrate on the other end side of the array.

  According to the light source device of this embodiment, the first distance between the light source module at one end of the array and the edge of the substrate is greater than the second distance between the light source module at the other end of the array and the edge of the substrate. This makes it possible to make the emitted light intensity distribution uniform as a whole.

  Further, in the light source module of one embodiment, the scatterer is formed on the bottom surface of the light guide opposite to the exit surface and on the two side surfaces adjacent to the entrance surface and adjacent to the exit surface and the bottom surface. did.

  According to the light source module of this embodiment, since the scatterer is formed on the three surfaces of the bottom surface and the two side surfaces of the light guide, incident light can be scattered on these three surfaces and light can be emitted with higher diffusion. It becomes.

  In the light source module of one embodiment, the scatterers formed on the two side surfaces are formed in the same pattern.

  According to the light source module of this embodiment, light can be similarly scattered on the two side surfaces of the light guide.

  In one embodiment, the electronic device includes the light source module.

  According to the electronic apparatus of this embodiment, it is possible to realize an electronic apparatus such as an illumination light source including a light source module capable of irradiating a light beam over a wide range and a backlight light source of a liquid crystal display device.

In the light source module of one embodiment, the scatterer that scatters the light incident on the light guide is
Formed on at least three adjacent surfaces adjacent to the incident surface of the light guide and connected to the incident surface;
Two adjacent surfaces on both sides of one of the three adjacent surfaces are
The first region adjacent to the one adjacent surface and not formed with the scatterer and the first region are separated from the one adjacent surface and the scatterer is formed. A second region.

  According to the light source module of this embodiment, the emitted light quantity distribution can be made uniform.

In the light source module of one embodiment, the scatterer that scatters the light incident on the light guide is
Formed on at least three adjacent surfaces adjacent to the incident surface of the light guide and connected to the incident surface;
Two adjacent surfaces on both sides of one of the three adjacent surfaces are
The first region adjacent to the one adjacent surface and the scatterer is formed, and the light from the light guide is separated from the one adjacent surface than the first region. And a second region where a reflecting body is formed.

  According to the light source module of this embodiment, the emitted light quantity distribution can be made uniform.

  According to the light source module of the present invention, since the scatterer is formed on at least two adjacent surfaces of the light guide, incident light is scattered on a plurality of surfaces of the light guide so as to be opposite to the two adjacent surfaces. The light beam can be emitted from the side surface, and the light can be emitted with higher diffusion.

It is a side view of the light guide 11 with which the 1st reference form of the light source module of this invention is provided. 2 is an end view of the light guide 11. FIG. It is an arrangement pitch distribution figure showing distribution of arrangement pitch of a scatterer formed in the above-mentioned light guide. It is a side view of the light source module of the said 1st reference form. It is an end view of the light source module of the said 1st reference form. It is a distribution map which shows intensity distribution of the emitted light from the light source module of the said 1st reference form. It is a side view of the 2nd reference form of the light source module of this invention. It is an arrangement pitch distribution figure showing distribution of arrangement pitch of a scatterer formed in a light guide of the above-mentioned 2nd reference form. It is a side view which shows the modification of the said 2nd reference form. It is a top view of the planar light source device as 3rd reference form of this invention provided with two or more light source modules of the said 1st reference form. It is a sectional side view of the planar light source device of the said 3rd reference form. It is a side view of the light guide 51 with which the 4th reference form of the light source module of this invention is provided. 2 is an end view of the light guide 51. FIG. It is an arrangement pitch distribution figure showing distribution of arrangement pitch of a scatterer formed in a light guide of the above-mentioned 4th reference form. It is a side view of the said 4th reference form. It is an end view of the said 4th reference form. It is a distribution map which shows intensity distribution of the emitted light from the light source module of the said 4th reference form. It is an end elevation which shows the comparative example of the light guide of the said 4th reference form. It is an end elevation which shows an example of the light guide of the said 4th reference form. It is an end elevation which shows another example of the light guide of the said 4th reference form. It is an end elevation which shows another example of the light guide of the said 4th reference form. It is a figure which shows the intensity distribution characteristic of the emitted light when it has a light guide with a different cross-sectional shape in the said 4th reference form. It is a side view of the 5th reference form of the light source module of this invention. It is a distribution map which shows the arrangement | sequence pitch distribution of the scatterer formed in the light guide of the said 5th reference form. It is a side view which shows the modification of the said 5th reference form. It is a top view of the planar light source device as 3rd reference form of this invention provided with two or more light source modules of the said 4th reference form. It is a sectional side view of the surface light source device of the said 4th reference form. It is an end elevation of a light guide for explaining a modification of the first reference form. It is an end view of the light guide for demonstrating the modification of the said 4th reference form. It is a side view of the conventional light source module. It is a distribution map which shows intensity distribution of the emitted light from the said conventional light source module. It is a figure which shows the end surface of the light guide which the 1st reference example of the said 4th reference form has. It is a figure which shows the end surface of the light guide which the comparative example of the 1st reference example of the said 4th reference form has. It is a distribution map which shows the emitted light intensity distribution of the 1st reference example of the said 4th reference form, and a comparative example. It is a figure which shows the end surface of the light guide which the 2nd reference example of the said 4th reference form has. It is a distribution map which shows the emitted light intensity distribution of the 2nd reference example of the said 4th reference form, and a comparative example. It is a figure which shows the end surface of the light guide which Example 1 of the said 4th reference form has. It is a distribution map which shows the emitted light intensity distribution of Example 1 of the said 4th reference form, and a comparative example. It is a figure which shows the end surface of the light guide which Example 2 of the said 4th reference form has. It is a distribution map which shows the emitted light intensity distribution of Example 2 of the said 4th reference form, and a comparative example. Is a diagram showing an end surface of the fourth actual施例3 has lightguide reference embodiment. Is a distribution diagram showing the emitted light intensity distribution of the actual施例3 and Comparative Example of the fourth reference embodiment. Is a diagram showing an end surface of the fourth actual施例4 has lightguide reference embodiment. It is a distribution diagram showing the emitted light intensity distribution of the actual施例4 and Comparative Examples of the fourth reference embodiment.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

(First reference form)
FIG. 1A is a side view of a light guide 11 provided in the first reference embodiment of the light source module of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is an end view showing an end face of the light guide 11.

In the first reference embodiment, an acrylic resin having a width of 6 mm, a height of 10 mm, and a length of 530 mm is employed as an example of the light guide 11. Here, the length is a dimension in the light guide direction X from one end surface 11A that is the incident surface of the light guide 11 to the other end surface 11B that is the other incident surface, and the height is the height of the light guide 11. The width is a dimension in the direction Z perpendicular to the light guide direction X and the normal direction Y.

  The light guide 11 may be made of the same material as the acrylic resin as long as it is made of a material having good transparency and high transparency such as polystyrene resin, methacrylic resin, polycarbonate resin or glass in addition to acrylic resin. Since an effect is acquired, the material of the said light guide 11 is not limited to the above-mentioned resin.

In the light source module of this reference embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A, the first light source 2 is installed adjacent to one end surface 11A of the light guide 11, and the second light source 3 is adjacent to the other end surface 11B. Is installed. The first and second light sources 2 and 3 are composed of coupling parts 2A and 3A and LEDs (light emitting diodes) 2B and 3B attached to the coupling parts 2A and 3A.

A plurality of scatterers 14 are formed on the bottom surface 11D as an adjacent surface opposite to the upper surface 11C of the light guide 11 at intervals in the light guide direction X, and are adjacent surfaces adjacent to the bottom surface 11D. A plurality of scatterers 15 are formed on the side surface 11E at intervals in the light guide direction X. As shown in FIG. 1B, the scatterer 14 extends linearly in the direction Z on the bottom surface 11D. 1A, the scatterer 15 extends linearly in the direction Y on the side surface 11E. Further, in this reference embodiment, the scatterers 14 and 15 are linearly patterned on the light guide 11 by a printing technique such as a screen printing method or an offset printing method by mixing diffusing fine particles in a transparent resin. did.

  The scatterers 14 and 15 may have the same effect even if they have a spot shape instead of a linear shape. Further, the scatterers 14 and 15 may be microprisms instead of the diffusing fine particles printed thereon. Further, instead of the scatterers 14 and 15, a scatterer having a shape having an effect of scattering and reflecting light such as a V-shaped groove and a microlens structure may be used.

When light that enters the light guide 11 from the light sources 2 and 3 and propagates through the light guide 11 enters the scatterers 14 and 15, the incident light is reflected and scattered by the scatterers 14 and 15. Thus, the reflected and scattered light is emitted from the bottom surface 11D provided with the scatterers 14 and 15, the top surface 11C as the exit surface opposite to the side surface 11E, and the side surface 11F as the exit surface. Will be. Here, as described above, the light guide 11 provided in the light source module of this reference embodiment differs from the conventional example in that not only the scatterer 14 is formed on the bottom surface 11D of the light guide 11, but also the bottom surface 11D. The scatterer 15 was also formed on the adjacent side surface 11E. With this configuration, light is emitted from both the upper surface 11C and the side surface 11F of the light guide 11. As a result, according to the light source module of this reference embodiment, it becomes possible to emit light with higher diffusion than in the conventional example.

Next, FIG. 2 shows the distribution of the arrangement pitch (mm) of the scatterers 14 and 15 formed in the light guide 11 of this reference embodiment. 2 represents the position coordinate X in the X direction from one end surface 11A to the other end surface 11B of the light guide 11, and the vertical axis in FIG. 2 represents the arrangement pitch (mm) of the scatterers 14 and 15. Represents. In the position coordinate X, zero represents the center position between the end face 1A and the end face 1B, and the position coordinate X increases as the distance from the center position approaches the other end face 11B.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the arrangement pitch of the scatterers 14 and 15 decreases as the distance from the end faces 11A and 11B increases, and the arrangement pitch is minimum at the center position (X = 0). That is, the density of the scatterers 14 and 15 is maximized at the central position (X = 0). The example of the array pitch distribution shown in FIG. 2 was obtained using ray tracing analysis software so that the illuminance distribution on the irradiated surface was uniform.

In this reference embodiment, the scatterers 14 and 15 are formed at the same position in the light guide direction X. However, the formation positions of the scatterers 14 and 15 in the light guide direction X may be shifted. For example, the scatterer 15 may be formed at the position coordinate X corresponding to the center position between two scatterers 14 adjacent in the light guide direction X.

Next, the intensity distribution of the emitted light from the light source module of this reference embodiment will be described with reference to the emitted light intensity distribution shown in FIG. The horizontal axis in FIG. 4 represents the position coordinate Z in the direction Z, and the vertical axis represents the relative intensity of the emitted light. The position of the position coordinate Z = 0 on the horizontal axis represents the center position of the light guide 11 in the Z direction, as shown in FIG. 3B. As described above, the light guide 11 has a width (Z-direction dimension) of 6 mm, a height (Y-direction dimension) of 10 mm, and a length (X-direction dimension) of 530 mm.

Further, the intensity distribution of the emitted light shown in FIG. 4 is an intensity distribution in a plane separated from the upper surface 11C of the light guide 11 by 14 mm in the direction Y, that is, separated from the bottom surface 11D of the light guide 11 by 20 mm in the direction Y. The distribution in the plane is shown. Further, the characteristic K1 shown in FIG. 4 shows the intensity distribution of the emitted light in the comparative example in which the scatterer 14 is formed only on the bottom surface 11D of the light guide 11 without forming the scatterer 15 on the side surface 11E of the light guide 11. Represents. In contrast, characteristics K2 represents the intensity distribution of the emitted light in this preferred embodiment forming the scatterer 14 and 15 on both the bottom surface 11D and side 11E of the light guide 11.

Referring to FIG. 4, it can be seen that the outgoing light is distributed more highly in the characteristic K2 of this reference embodiment than in the characteristic K1 of the comparative example. In particular, in this preferred embodiment, by having established the scatterer 15, it can be seen that the emitted light in the negative region in the coordinates Z (i.e. a region close to the scattering body 15) is more diffuse.

As described above, in the light source module of the first reference embodiment, the upper surface 11C and the side surface 11F of the light guide 11 are formed by forming the scatterers 14 and 15 on the two adjacent surfaces 11D and 11E of the light guide 11. It is possible to emit a light beam on both sides. Therefore, according to this reference embodiment, light can be emitted with higher diffusion than in the conventional configuration, and the light source module can irradiate a light beam over a wide range. Further, when the light source module of this reference form is used for a backlight of a liquid crystal display, a thin backlight can be realized.

  1A and 1B, the scatterer 14 is formed on the bottom surface 11D and the scatterer 15 is formed on the side surface 11E. However, the scatterer 14 is formed on the top surface 11C instead of the bottom surface 11D. The scatterer 15 may be formed on the side surface 11E.

  Furthermore, by installing an optical sheet having a high reflectance, such as a reflective sheet, on the bottom surface 11D of the light guide 11, a backlight having a high light utilization efficiency can be obtained. In particular, when the scatterer 14 is formed on the upper surface 11C of the light guide 11, the light reflected by the scatterer 14 can be reflected by this optical sheet (not shown) and the optical path length can be increased, resulting in higher diffusion and consequently A thin backlight can be realized.

(Second reference form)
Next, FIG. 5 shows a second reference embodiment of the light source module of the present invention. In the second reference embodiment, the light guide 21, the light source 22 disposed adjacent to one end surface 21 </ b> A that is the incident surface of the light guide 21, and the other end surface 21 </ b> B of the light guide 21 are adjacent to each other. And a reflector 36 disposed in the same manner. The light source 22 includes a coupling component 22A and an LED 22B attached to the coupling component 22A.

  Further, a bottom surface 21D, which is an adjacent surface opposite to the top surface 21C, which is the exit surface of the light guide 21, is spaced in the light guide direction X from the one end surface 21A of the light guide 21 toward the other end surface 21B. Thus, a plurality of scatterers 34 are formed. A plurality of scatterers 35 are formed on the side surface 21E adjacent to the bottom surface 21D at intervals in the light guide direction X. The scatterer 34 extends linearly in a direction Z perpendicular to the normal direction Y of the upper surface 21C and the light guide direction X. The scatterer 35 extends linearly in the normal direction Y on the side surface 21E.

In the second reference form, unlike the first reference form described above, the reflector 36 is disposed on the other end surface 21B of the light guide 21. FIG. 6 shows the distribution of the arrangement pitch (mm) of the scatterers 34 and 35 formed on the light guide 21 of this reference form. 6 represents the position coordinate X in the X direction extending from one end surface 21A to the other end surface 21B of the light guide 21, and the vertical axis in FIG. 6 represents the arrangement pitch (mm) of the scatterers 34 and 35. Represents. In the position coordinate X, zero represents the center position between the end face 21A and the end face 21B, and the position coordinate X increases as the distance from the center position approaches the other end face 21B. In this reference form, the arrangement pitch decreases from the end surface 21A toward the end surface 21B. In other words, the spacing between the scatterers 34 and 35 becomes closer as the distance from the light source 22 increases. Due to the arrangement distribution of the scatterers 34 and 35, the arrangement density of the scatterers 34 and 35 is increased as light guided in the light guide 21 in the light guide direction X decreases. Thus, the emitted light intensity in the light guide direction X is made uniform.

Moreover, according to this 2nd reference form, since not only the scatterer 34 was formed in the bottom face 21D of the light guide 21, but the scatterer 35 was also formed in the side surface 21E adjacent to the bottom face 21D, the light guide 21 Light is emitted from both the upper surface 21C and the side surface opposite to the side surface 21E. Therefore, according to the light source module of this reference embodiment, it becomes possible to emit light with higher diffusion than in the conventional example. In the light guide 21 shown in FIG. 5, the scatterer 34 is formed on the bottom surface 21D and the scatterer 35 is formed on the side surface 21E. However, the scatterer 34 may be formed on the top surface 21C instead of the bottom surface 21D. .

Therefore, according to the light source module of this reference embodiment, it becomes possible to radiate outgoing light that is uniform in the longitudinal direction (light guide direction X) and highly diffused. Thus, for example, when using a light source module of the present reference embodiment as a backlight of a liquid crystal display, it is possible to realize a thin backlight.

In the second reference embodiment, the light guide 21 is a rectangular parallelepiped, but as shown in FIG. 7, the light guide 26 has a cross-sectional area that decreases from one end face 26A to the other end face 26B. May be provided.

(First modification)
Next, a modification of the first reference embodiment described above will be described with reference to the end view of FIG. As shown in FIG. 19, in this modification, that it has a first transparent film 202 adhered on the bottom surface 11D and side 11E to the adhesive layer 201 of the reference embodiment of the light guide 11 of the aforementioned first reference mentioned above Different from form.

That is, in the first reference embodiment described above, the scatterers 14 and 15 are directly formed on the bottom surface 11D and the side surface 11E of the light guide 11, but in this modification, the bottom surface 11D and the side surface 11E of the light guide 11 are formed. The scatterers 14 and 15 are formed on the transparent film 202 attached with the adhesive layer 201.

  The transparent film 202 is made of a material having good transparency and high transmittance such as acrylic resin, polycarbonate resin, polystyrene resin, methacrylic resin, and PET resin. The scatterers 14 and 15 are formed on the transparent film 202 by screen printing, offset printing, or the like. The transparent film 202 is in close contact with the bottom surface 11D and the side surface 11E of the light guide 11 with an adhesive layer 201. As the adhesive layer 201, epoxy, acrylic, urethane, silicon, or the like can be used. Use a highly transparent adhesive.

  According to this modification, after the scatterers 14 and 15 are printed in advance on the transparent film 202 before being bonded to the light guide 11, the transparent film 202 on which the scatterers 14 and 15 are printed is bonded. By attaching the layer 201 to the bottom surface 11D and the side surface 11E of the light guide 11, the scatterers 14 and 15 can be formed on the light guide 11 by one printing. In addition, since the scatterers 14 and 15 can be simultaneously printed on the transparent film 202, it is easier to align the scatterers 14 and 15 than when the scatterers 14 and 15 are directly printed on the light guide 11. Become. Therefore, according to this modification, it is possible to realize the optical characteristics as designed, and to reduce the number of times the scatterer is printed from two to one.

  In the case where the scatterers 14 and 15 are directly formed on the light guide 11, leakage light occurs when the surface state of the light guide 11 is poor and the light reflection body 11 does not satisfy the total light reflection condition. The uniformity of the emitted light is disturbed by the influence of the leaked light, so that the mirror finish of the surface of the light guide 11 is required. On the other hand, in this modified example, the surface of the transparent film 202 may be smoothed, and it is generally easier to smooth the surface of the transparent film 202 than to smooth the surface of the light guide 11. It is. In this modification, the transparent film 202 is pasted on the surface of the light guide 11, so that even if the surface state of the light guide 11 is not good, the transparent film 202 closely adhered via the adhesive layer 201 The reflection condition can be satisfied, and the occurrence of leakage light can be avoided to ensure the uniformity of the emitted light. Therefore, according to this modification, it is possible to realize a light source module that can ensure the uniformity of the emitted light.

  In addition, according to this modification, it is easy to print the scatterers 14 and 15 on the transparent film 202, compared to the case where the scatterers 14 and 15 are directly printed on the light guide 11. , 15 can be printed at high speed. Moreover, when it is necessary to change the printing pattern of the scatterers 14 and 15 by a design change etc., the printing pattern of the scatterers 14 and 15 with respect to the light guide 11 can be easily changed by replacing the transparent film 202. There are advantages.

In the above modification, the transparent film 202 is pasted with the adhesive layer 201 on the bottom surface 11D and the side surface 11E of the light guide 11 of the first reference embodiment, and the scatterers 14 and 15 are formed on the transparent film 202. Instead of this configuration, the transparent film 202 may be attached to the upper surface 11C and the side surface 11E with the adhesive layer 201, and the scatterers 14 and 15 may be formed on the transparent film 202. Furthermore, the transparent film 202 may be attached to the bottom surface 21D and the side surface 21E of the light guide body 21 of the second reference embodiment with the adhesive layer 201, and the scatterers 34 and 35 may be formed on the transparent film 202. It is good also as a structure which affixes a transparent film on 21C and the side surface 21E, and forms the scatterers 34 and 35 in this transparent film 202.

(Third reference form)
Next, with reference to FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B, the planar light source device as a light source device provided with the light source module of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 8A is a plan view of the planar light source device, and FIG. 8B is a sectional side view of the planar light source device.

This planar light source device includes a plurality of light source modules 38 of the first reference embodiment described above, and the plurality of light source modules 38 are fitted in grooves 40A of a substantially rectangular substrate 40. The light source modules 38 are arranged substantially in parallel with a gap in the width direction Z. This planar light source device is used as a backlight of a liquid crystal television as an example.

  Further, in the planar light source device, an optical sheet (not shown) such as a diffusion sheet that covers the upper surface 11C of the light guide 11 of each light source module 38 is provided. Furthermore, an optical sheet (not shown) such as a reflection sheet is also provided on the bottom surface 11D side of the light guide 11 to improve the light utilization efficiency.

  Further, in this planar light source device, the first distance D1 between the edge 40B of the substrate 40 on the side surface 11F side of the light guide 11 of the light source module 38 and the light source module 38 is set as the side surface 11E of the light guide 11. The second distance D2 between the edge 40C of the substrate 40 on the side and the light source module 38 is made smaller. This is because the emitted light intensity has anisotropy on the side surface 11F side and the side surface 11E side in the width direction Z as in the intensity distribution characteristic K2 of the emitted light shown in FIG. In other words, the distance between the side surface 11E where the emitted light intensity is high and the edge 40C of the substrate 40 is made larger than the distance between the side surface 11F where the emitted light intensity is small and the edge 40B of the substrate 40, and thus the emission surface 40E. It is possible to make the emitted light intensity distribution uniform.

Further, according to the planar light source device of this reference embodiment, it is possible to reduce the thickness by providing the light source module 38 that can emit light with higher diffusion than in the past.

(4th form of reference )
FIG. 9A is a side view of the light guide 51 provided in the fourth reference embodiment of the light source module of the present invention, and FIG. 9B is an end view showing the end face of the light guide 51.

In the fourth reference embodiment, an acrylic resin having a width of 6 mm, a height of 10 mm, and a length of 530 mm is employed as an example of the light guide 51. Here, the length is a dimension in the light guide direction X from the one end surface 51A of the light guide 51 toward the other end surface 51B, and the height is a dimension in the normal direction Y of the upper surface 51C of the light guide 51. Yes, the width is a dimension in the direction Z perpendicular to the light guide direction X and the normal direction Y. As the material of the light guide 51, other than acrylic resin, polystyrene resin, methacrylic resin, polycarbonate resin, glass or the like, such as a material having good transparency and high transmittance, is the same as the above acrylic resin. Since an effect is acquired, the material of the said light guide 11 is not limited to the above-mentioned resin.

In the light source module of the fourth reference embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11A, the first light source 42 is installed adjacent to one end surface 51A of the light guide 51, and the second light source module is adjacent to the other end surface 51B. A light source 43 is installed. The first and second light sources 42 and 43 are composed of coupling parts 42A and 43A and LEDs (light emitting diodes) 42B and 43B attached to the coupling parts 42A and 43A.

  A plurality of scatterers 54 are formed on the bottom surface 51D opposite to the top surface 51C of the light guide 51 at intervals in the light guide direction X, and the light guide direction is formed on the side surface 51E adjacent to the bottom surface 51D. A plurality of scatterers 55 are formed at intervals in X, and a plurality of scatterers 56 are also formed at intervals in the light guide direction X on the side surface 51F opposite to the side surface 51E.

  The scatterers 54, 55, and 56 were obtained by mixing diffusion particles in a transparent resin and patterning the light guide 51 linearly by a printing technique such as a screen printing method or an offset printing method. It should be noted that the same effect can be obtained when the shape of the scatterers 54, 55, and 56 is not a linear shape but a spot shape. Further, the scatterers 54, 55, and 56 may be microprisms instead of the diffusing fine particles printed thereon. Further, instead of the scatterers 54, 55, and 56, a scatterer having a shape having an effect of scattering and reflecting light such as a V-shaped groove and a microlens structure may be used.

When light that enters the light guide 51 from the light sources 42 and 43 and propagates through the light guide 51 is incident on the scatterers 54, 55, and 56, the incident light is converted into the scatterers 54, 55, and 56. The surface is not reflected by the reflection and scattering, and does not satisfy the total reflection condition, and is reflected and scattered from the bottom surface 51D, the side surface 51E, the top surface 51C opposite to the side surface 51F, the side surface 51F, and the side surface 51E provided with the scatterers 54, 55, and 56. Light is emitted. Here, as described above, the light guide 51 provided in the light source module of this reference embodiment is different from the conventional example in that not only the scatterer 54 is formed on the bottom surface 51D of the light guide 51 but also the bottom surface 51D. Scatterers 55 and 56 were also formed on adjacent side surfaces 11E and 11F. With this configuration, light is emitted from the top surface 51C of the light guide 51 and the three surfaces 11E and 11F. As a result, according to the light source module of the fourth reference embodiment, it becomes possible to emit light with higher diffusion than in the conventional example.

Next, FIG. 10 shows the distribution of the arrangement pitch (mm) of the scatterers 54, 55, 56 formed in the light guide 51 of the fourth reference embodiment. The horizontal axis in FIG. 10 represents the position coordinate X in the X direction from one end surface 51A to the other end surface 51B of the light guide 51, and the vertical axis in FIG. 2 represents the arrangement pitch of the scatterers 54, 55, 56 ( mm). In the position coordinate X, zero represents the center position between the end surface 51A and the end surface 51B, and the position coordinate X increases toward the other end surface 51B from the center position.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the arrangement pitch of the scatterers 54, 55, and 56 decreases as the distance from the end faces 51A and 51B increases, and the arrangement pitch is minimum at the center position (X = 0). . That is, the density of the scatterers 54, 55, and 56 is maximized at the center position (X = 0). The example of the arrangement pitch distribution shown in FIG. 10 was obtained by using ray tracing analysis software so that the illuminance distribution on the irradiated surface was uniform.

In the fourth reference embodiment, the scatterers 54, 55, and 56 are formed at the same position in the light guide direction X. However, the scatterers 54 and the scatterers 55 and 56 are formed in the light guide direction X. It may be shifted. However, it is desirable to form the scatterer 55 and the scatterer 56 facing each other at the same position in the light guide direction X.

Next, the intensity distribution of the emitted light from the light source module of this reference embodiment will be described with reference to the emitted light intensity distribution shown in FIG. The horizontal axis in FIG. 12 represents the position coordinate Z in the direction Z, and the vertical axis represents the relative intensity of the emitted light. The position of the position coordinate Z = 0 on the horizontal axis represents the center position of the light guide 51 in the Z direction, as shown in FIG. 11B. In the characteristics of FIG. 12, the size of the light guide 51 is 10 mm for the width (Z-direction dimension), 6 mm for the height (Y-direction dimension), and 530 mm for the length (X-direction dimension).

  As shown in FIG. 13A, the intensity distribution characteristic K11 shown in FIG. 12 is a scattering having a width dimension of 10 mm only on the bottom surface 51D of the light guide 51 without forming a scatterer on both side surfaces 51E and 51F of the light guide 51. The outgoing light intensity distribution of the width direction Z of the comparative example in which the body 54 was formed is shown. Further, as shown in FIG. 13B, the intensity distribution characteristic K12 of FIG. 12 is formed with a scatterer 54 having a width of 8 mm on the bottom surface 51D of the light guide 51 and heights on both side surfaces 51E and 51F of the light guide 51. The outgoing light intensity distribution in the width direction Z when the scatterers 55 and 56 having a dimension of 6 mm are formed is shown. Further, as shown in FIG. 13C, the intensity distribution characteristic K13 of FIG. 12 is formed with a scatterer 54 having a width of 6 mm on the bottom surface 51D of the light guide 51 and heights on both side surfaces 51E and 51F of the light guide 51. The outgoing light intensity distribution in the width direction Z when the scatterers 55 and 56 having a dimension of 6 mm are formed is shown. Further, as shown in FIG. 13D, the intensity distribution characteristic K14 in FIG. 12 is formed with a scatterer 54 having a width of 3 mm on the bottom surface 51D of the light guide 51 and heights on both side surfaces 51E and 51F of the light guide 51. The outgoing light intensity distribution in the width direction Z when the scatterers 55 and 56 having a dimension of 6 mm are formed is shown.

The configurations of FIGS. 13B to 13D correspond to the fourth reference embodiment, and the intensity distribution characteristics K12 to K14 shown in FIG. 12 correspond to the characteristics of the fourth reference embodiment.

According to the intensity distribution characteristics K12 to K14 of the fourth reference embodiment, it can be seen that the emitted light is distributed with higher diffusion than the intensity distribution characteristics K11 of the comparative example. If the width dimension of the scatterer 54 is 6 mm or more as in the configurations of FIGS. 13B and 13C, the position coordinate Z like the characteristic K14 when the width dimension of the scatterer 54 is 3 mm as shown in FIG. 13D. There is no drop in the intensity distribution in the vicinity of = 0, and the intensity gradually decreases from the position coordinate Z = 0 as in the characteristics K12 and K13 in FIG. That is, it can be seen that the width dimension of each scatterer 54 forming the scattering pattern is preferably approximately the same as the dimension (6 mm) in the height direction Y of both side surfaces 51E and 51F.

Further, referring to the characteristics K12 to K14 of FIG. 12 of the fourth reference embodiment, unlike the characteristic K2 of FIG. 4 of the first reference embodiment described above, a symmetrical intensity distribution is shown with respect to the position coordinate Z = 0. Yes. This is caused by the fact that the scatterers 55 and 56 are arranged on the both side surfaces 51E and 51F of the light guide 51, so that light is uniformly emitted to the both side surfaces 51E and 51F. Therefore, according to the light source module of the fourth reference embodiment, it is possible to obtain a more diffused distribution of emitted light than the first reference embodiment described above.

  Next, FIG. 14 shows a change in intensity distribution characteristics of the emitted light due to a difference in cross-sectional shape on the YZ plane of the light guide 51. As in FIG. 12, in FIG. 14, the horizontal axis represents the position coordinate Z in the width direction Z, and the vertical axis represents the relative intensity of the emitted light.

  Characteristics K21, K22, K23, and K24 shown in FIG. 14 are intensity distributions when the width and height of the light guide 51 are the following dimensions (1), (2), (3), and (4), respectively. It is a characteristic. In addition, each of the intensity distribution characteristics K21 to K24 indicates the calculation result of the distribution of the emitted light on the surface separated from the upper surface 51C of the light guide 51 by 14 mm. In the following (1) to (3), the scatterers 54, 55, and 56 are formed on the three surfaces of the bottom surface 51D and the both side surfaces 51E and 51F of the light guide 51, while in the following (4), the light guide The scatterers 54 were formed only on the bottom surface 51D of the 51.

(1) Width 10mm, Height 6mm
(2) Width 10mm, Height 3mm
(3) Width 10mm, Height 1mm
(4) Width 10mm, Height 6mm (scatters scatterers only on the bottom)

  As can be seen from the characteristic K23 in FIG. 14, in the light guide 51 having the shape (3), the degree of diffusion of the emitted light is due to the light guide 51 having the shape (4) which is the configuration of the conventional example. It is almost close to the characteristic K24. This is because the height (1 mm) of both side surfaces 51E and 51F of the light guide 51 is relatively smaller than the width (10 mm) of the bottom surface 51D in the shape of (3) above, so This is due to the low degree of diffusion. That is, it can be seen that the ratio of the height and width of the cross section of the light guide 51 is desirably 1/10 or more.

  In the description using FIGS. 9 to 14 described above, the scatterer 54 is formed on the bottom surface 51D of the light guide 51. However, the scatterer 54 is formed on the upper surface 51C, and the scatterers 55 and 56 are The same effect can be obtained with the configuration formed on the side surfaces 51E and 51F.

As described above, according to the light source module according to the fourth reference embodiment, the ratio of the height to the width of the light guide 1 is greater than 1/10, and the scatterer bottom 51D, side surface 51E, the three surfaces 51F By forming 54, 55, and 56, light can be emitted from the light guide 51 with high diffusion. Therefore, when the light source module of this reference form is used for a backlight of a liquid crystal display, a thin backlight can be realized.

  Furthermore, by installing an optical sheet having a high reflectivity on the bottom surface 51 </ b> D of the light guide 51, for example, a reflection sheet, a backlight with higher light utilization efficiency can be obtained. In the case of forming 51C, the light reflected by the scatterer 54 can be reflected by this optical sheet (not shown) to increase the optical path length. Therefore, the diffusion becomes higher and as a result, a thin backlight can be realized.

(5th reference form)
Next, FIG. 15 shows a fifth reference embodiment of the light source module of the present invention. In the fifth reference embodiment, the light guide 61, the light source 62 disposed adjacent to one end surface 61A of the light guide 61, and the other end surface 61B of the light guide 61 are disposed. And a reflector 76. The light source 62 includes a coupling component 62A and an LED 62B attached to the coupling component 62A.

In the fifth reference embodiment, as in the fourth reference embodiment described above, a plurality of scatterers 74 are formed at intervals in the light guide direction X on the bottom surface 61D opposite to the top surface 61C of the light guide 61. A plurality of scatterers 75 are formed on the side surface 61E adjacent to the bottom surface 61D at intervals in the light guide direction X, and a plurality of scatterers 75 are formed on the side surface opposite to the side surface 61E at intervals in the light guide direction X. A scatterer (not shown) is formed. Each scatterer formed on the opposite side surface has the same position in the light guide direction X as each scatterer 75 formed on the side surface 61E, and the size in the height direction Y has each scatterer 75. Is the same.

In the fifth reference embodiment, unlike the fourth reference embodiment described above, the reflector 76 is disposed on the other end surface 61B of the light guide 61. FIG. 16 shows the distribution of the arrangement pitch (mm) of the scatterers 74 and 75 formed in the light guide 61 of the fifth reference embodiment. 16 represents the position coordinate X in the light guide direction X extending from one end surface 61A to the other end surface 61B of the light guide 61, and the vertical axis in FIG. 15 represents the arrangement pitch of the scatterers 74 and 75 ( mm). In the position coordinate X, zero represents the center position between the end face 61A and the end face 61B, and the position coordinate X increases toward the other end face 61B from the center position. In the fifth reference embodiment, the arrangement pitch decreases from the end surface 61A toward the end surface 61B. That is, the spacing between the scatterers 74 and 75 becomes closer as the distance from the light source 62 increases. Due to the arrangement distribution of the scatterers 74 and 75, the arrangement density of the scatterers 74 and 75 is increased as the light guided in the light guide 61 in the light guide direction X decreases. Thus, the emitted light intensity in the light guide direction X is made uniform.

Further, according to the fifth reference embodiment, not only the scatterer 74 is formed on the bottom surface 61D of the light guide 61, but also the scatterers are formed on both side surfaces adjacent to the bottom surface 61D. Light is emitted from the upper surface 61C and the three sides of the upper surface 61C. Therefore, according to the light source module of this reference embodiment, it becomes possible to emit light with higher diffusion than in the conventional example. It goes without saying that the same effect as described above can be obtained even if the scatterer 74 is formed on the upper surface 61C instead of the bottom surface 61D of the light guide 61 and the scatterers are formed on the side surfaces 61E and 61F.

Therefore, according to the light source module of the fifth reference embodiment, it is possible to radiate outgoing light that is uniform in the light guide direction (longitudinal direction) X and highly diffused. Thus, for example, when using a light source module of the present reference embodiment as a backlight of a liquid crystal display, it is possible to realize a thin backlight.

In the fifth reference embodiment, the light guide 61 is a rectangular parallelepiped, but as shown in FIG. 17, the light guide 66 has a cross-sectional area that decreases from one end face 66A to the other end face 66B. May be provided.

(Second modification)
Next, a modification of the above-described fourth reference embodiment will be described with reference to the end view of FIG. As shown in FIG. 20, in this modified example, the transparent film 502 pasted with the adhesive layer 501 on the bottom surface 51D, the side surface 51E, and the side surface 51F of the light guide 51 of the fourth reference embodiment described above is the above-described point. Different from the fourth reference embodiment. That is, in the above-described fourth reference embodiment, the scatterers 54, 55, and 56 are formed directly on the bottom surface 51D, the side surface 51E, and the side surface 51F of the light guide 51. However, in this modification, the light guide 51 Scatterers 54, 55, and 56 are formed on a transparent film 502 that is bonded to the bottom surface 51D, the side surface 51E, and the side surface 51F with an adhesive layer 501.

  The transparent film 502 is made of a material having good transparency and high transmittance such as acrylic resin, polycarbonate resin, polystyrene resin, methacrylic resin, and PET resin. The scatterers 54, 55, and 56 are formed on the transparent film 502 by screen printing, offset printing, or the like. The transparent film 502 is in close contact with the bottom surface 51D, the side surface 51E, and the side surface 51F of the light guide 51 with an adhesive layer 501. As the adhesive layer 501, an epoxy-based material, an acrylic-based material, a urethane-based material, a silicon-based material is used. Use a highly transparent adhesive such as a system.

  According to this modification, the scatterers 54, 55, 56 are printed on the transparent film 502 before being bonded to the light guide 51 in advance, and then the scatterers 54, 55, 56 are printed on the transparent film 502. The film 502 is attached to the bottom surface 51D, the side surface 51E, and the side surface 51F of the light guide 51 with the adhesive layer 501. Thereby, it becomes possible to form the scatterers 54, 55, 56 on the light guide 51 by one printing. Further, since the scatterers 54, 55, and 56 can be simultaneously printed on the transparent film 502, the scatterers 54, 55, and 56 are compared with the case where the scatterers 54, 55, and 56 are directly printed on the light guide 51. Positioning becomes easy. Therefore, according to this modification, it is possible to realize optical characteristics as designed, and to reduce the number of times the scatterer is printed from three to one.

  In the case where the scatterers 54, 55, and 56 are directly formed on the light guide 51, the light leakage occurs when the surface state of the light guide 51 is bad and the total light reflection condition is not satisfied inside the light guide 51. And the uniformity of the emitted light is disturbed due to the influence of the leaked light, so that the mirror finish of the surface of the light guide 51 is required. On the other hand, in this modification, the surface of the transparent film 502 may be smoothed, and it is generally easier to smooth the surface of the transparent film 502 than to smooth the surface of the light guide 51. It is. In this modification, the transparent film 502 is attached to the surface of the light guide 51, so that even if the surface state of the light guide 51 is not good, the transparent film 202 closely adhered via the adhesive layer 501 The reflection condition can be satisfied, and the occurrence of leakage light can be avoided to ensure the uniformity of the emitted light. Therefore, according to this modification, it is possible to realize a light source module that can ensure the uniformity of the emitted light.

  Further, according to this modification, it is easy to print the scatterers 54, 55, 56 on the transparent film 502, compared with the case where the scatterers 54, 55, 56 are directly printed on the light guide 51. There is an advantage that the scatterers 54, 55 and 56 can be printed at high speed. In addition, when it is necessary to change the print pattern of the scatterers 54, 55, 56 due to a design change or the like, the print pattern of the scatterers 54, 55, 56 with respect to the light guide 51 can be easily changed by replacing the transparent film 502. There is an advantage that it can be changed.

In the modified example, the transparent film 202 is pasted to the bottom surface 11D and the side surface 11E of the light guide body 51 of the fourth reference embodiment with the adhesive layer 201, and the scatterers 54, 55, and 56 are formed on the transparent film 202. However, the transparent film 502 is adhered to the bottom surface 61D, the side surface 61E, and the side surface opposite to the side surface 61E of the light guide body 61 of the fifth reference embodiment, and the scatterer 54, 55, 56 may be formed.

(Sixth form of reference )
Next, with reference to FIG. 18A and FIG. 18B, the planar light source device as an electronic apparatus provided with the light source module of the present invention will be described. 18A is a plan view of the planar light source device, and FIG. 18B is a side sectional view of the planar light source device.

This planar light source device includes a plurality of light source modules 88 of the above-described fourth reference embodiment, and the plurality of light source modules 88 are fitted into grooves 90A of a substantially rectangular substrate 90. The light source modules 88 are arranged substantially in parallel with a gap in the width direction Z. This planar light source device is used as a backlight of a liquid crystal television as an example.

  In the planar light source device, an optical sheet (not shown) such as a diffusion sheet that covers the upper surface 51C of the light guide 51 of each light source module 88 is provided. Furthermore, an optical sheet (not shown) such as a reflective sheet is also provided on the bottom surface 51D side of the light guide 51, thereby improving the light utilization efficiency.

  Further, in this planar light source device, the distance D11 between the edge 90B of the substrate 90 on the side surface 51F side of the light guide 51 of the light source module 88 and the light source module 88 is set on the side surface 51E side of the light guide 51. The distance D2 between the edge 90C of the substrate 90 and the side surface 51E of the light guide 51 was made equal (D11 = D12). This is because there is no anisotropy of the emitted light intensity on the side surface 11F side and the side surface 11E side in the width direction Z as in the intensity distribution characteristics K12 and K13 of the emitted light shown in FIG. . Therefore, according to this planar light source device, the outgoing light intensity distribution on the outgoing face 90E can be made uniform.

In addition, according to the surface light source device of the sixth reference embodiment, the light source module 88 that can emit light with higher diffusion than the conventional light source module 88 can be realized.

In the above reference embodiment, the light guide has a quadrangular cross section taken along the YZ plane extending in a direction orthogonal to the light guide direction X. The cross-sectional shape is not limited to a quadrangular shape, and may be a polygonal shape of a pentagon or more or a triangular shape. Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described reference embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope shown in the claims, and obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different reference embodiments. Such reference forms are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

(First Reference Example)
Next, a first reference example of the light source module of the fourth reference embodiment shown in FIG. 11A will be described with reference to FIGS. 23A to 23C. FIG. 23A is a diagram illustrating a state where one end face 51A of the light guide 51 included in the first reference example is viewed in the light guide direction.

In the first reference example, as an example, the size of the light guide 51 is 10 mm for the width dimension (Z direction dimension), 6 mm for the height dimension (Y direction dimension), and 530 mm for the length dimension (X direction dimension). did. The Y direction is a normal direction of the upper surface 51C of the light guide 51, the X direction is a light guide direction from one end surface 51A of the light guide 51 to the other end surface 51B, and the Z direction is the above-described direction. This is a direction orthogonal to the light guide direction X and the normal direction Y.

In the first reference example, a plurality of scatterers 54 having a width dimension of 10 mm are formed on the bottom surface 51D of the light guide 51 at intervals in the light guide direction X. In addition, a plurality of scatterers 55 are formed on the side surface 51E of the light guide 51 at intervals in the light guide direction X. A plurality of scatterers 56 are formed on the side surface 51 </ b> F of the light guide 51 at intervals in the light guide direction X. The height dimension (Y direction dimension) of the scatterers 55 and 56 is 6 mm.

The emitted light intensity distribution of the first reference example is shown by a characteristic K31 drawn by a solid line in FIG. 23C. In FIG. 23C, the horizontal axis indicates the position coordinates in the width direction (Z direction), and Z = 0 indicates the center of the light guide 51 in the width direction (Z direction). In FIG. 23C, the vertical axis represents the relative intensity of the emitted light. More specifically, the intensity distribution of the emitted light shown in FIG. 23C shows the intensity distribution in a plane separated from the upper surface 51C of the light guide 51 by 14 mm in the Y direction. On the other hand, a characteristic K32 drawn by a broken line in FIG. 23C shows the emitted light intensity distribution of the comparative example shown in FIG. 23B. In this comparative example, a scatterer 54 having a width of 10 mm is formed on the bottom surface 51D of the light guide 51, but no scatterer is formed on both side surfaces 51E and 51F.

As is apparent from FIG. 23C, the characteristic K31 of the first reference example in which the scatterers 54, 55, and 56 are formed on the bottom surface 51D and the both side surfaces 51E and 51F is the characteristic of the comparative example in which the scatterer 54 is formed only on the bottom surface 51D. It can be seen that the outgoing light intensity distribution is higher than that of K32.

(Second reference example)
Next, a second reference example as a modification of the first reference example described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 24A and 24B. FIG. 24A is a diagram illustrating a state where one end face 51A of the light guide 51 included in the second reference example is viewed in the light guide direction. This second reference example is different from the first reference example described above only in that the scatterer 54 formed on the bottom surface 51D of FIG. 23A is removed and the scatterer 58 is formed on the upper surface 51C. The scatterers 58 have a width dimension of 10 mm, and a plurality of scatterers 58 are formed at intervals in the light guide direction X.

The emitted light intensity distribution of the second reference example is shown by a characteristic K51 drawn by a solid line in FIG. 24B. In FIG. 24B, the horizontal axis indicates the position coordinates in the width direction (Z direction), and Z = 0 indicates the center of the light guide 51 in the width direction (Z direction). In FIG. 24B, the vertical axis represents the relative intensity of the emitted light. More specifically, the intensity distribution of the emitted light having the characteristic K51 shown in FIG. 24B shows the intensity distribution in a plane separated from the bottom surface 51D of the light guide 51 by 14 mm in the reverse Y direction. On the other hand, a characteristic K32 drawn by a broken line in FIG. 24B shows the emitted light intensity distribution of the comparative example shown in FIG. 23B.

As apparent from FIG. 24B, the characteristic K51 of the second reference example in which the scatterers 58, 55, and 56 are formed on the upper surface 51C and the both side surfaces 51E and 51F is the characteristic of the comparative example in which the scatterer 54 is formed only on the bottom surface 51D. It can be seen that the outgoing light intensity distribution is higher than that of K32.

(Actual Example 1)
Next, FIG. 25A, with reference to FIG. 25B, illustrating the actual Example 1 of a modified example of the second reference example described above. Figure 25A is a diagram showing a picture obtained by viewing one end surface 51A of the light guide 51 with the actual Example 1 of this in the light guide direction. Real This Example 1 is instead the scatterer 55 and 56 of Figure 24A, both side surfaces 51E of the scatterer 355 and 356 the light guide 51, only in that formed on the 51F differs from the second reference example of the aforementioned . Therefore, in the first embodiment, the same components as those in the second reference example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and differences from the second reference example will be mainly described.

Example 1 is a side 51E of the light guide 51, a second which is remote from the top surface 51C than the first region 51E-1 of the first region 51E-1 Toko adjacent to the upper surface 51C A region 51E-2. No scatterer is formed in the first region 51E-1. A scatterer 355 is formed in the second region 51E-2. The scatterer 355 has a height dimension (Y-direction dimension) of 3 mm, and a plurality of scatterers 355 are formed at intervals in the light guide direction X. The height dimension of the scatterer 355 is not limited to 3 mm, and may be 2 mm or 4 mm, for example, and is not particularly limited.

  Further, the side surface 51F of the light guide 51 includes a first region 51F-1 adjacent to the upper surface 51C and a second region 51F- separated from the upper surface 51C than the first region 51F-1. 2. No scatterer is formed in the first region 51F-1. A scatterer 356 is formed in the second region 51F-2. The scatterers 356 have a height dimension (Y-direction dimension) of 3 mm, and a plurality of the scatterers 356 are formed at intervals in the light guide direction X. The height of the scatterer 356 is not limited to 3 mm, and may be 2 mm or 4 mm, for example, and is not particularly limited.

The emitted light intensity distribution of the first embodiment is shown by a characteristic K61 drawn by a solid line in FIG. 25B. In FIG. 25B, the horizontal axis indicates the position coordinate in the width direction (Z direction), and Z = 0 indicates the center of the light guide 51 in the width direction (Z direction). In FIG. 25B, the vertical axis represents the relative intensity of the emitted light. More specifically, the intensity distribution of the emitted light having the characteristic K61 shown in FIG. 25B shows the intensity distribution in a plane separated from the bottom surface 51D of the light guide 51 by 14 mm in the reverse Y direction. On the other hand, a characteristic K32 drawn by a broken line in FIG. 25B shows the emitted light intensity distribution of the comparative example shown in FIG. 23B.

As is apparent from FIG. 25B, the characteristic K61 of Example 1 in which the scatterers 58, 355, and 356 are formed in the first regions 51E-2 and 51F-2 of the upper surface 51C and the side surfaces 51E and 51F is only the bottom surface 51D. It can be seen that the diffused emitted light intensity distribution is higher than the characteristic K32 of the comparative example in which the scatterer 54 is formed.

(Real施例2)
Next, with reference to FIG. 26A and FIG. 26B, Example 2 as a modification of the above-mentioned first reference example will be described. FIG. 26A is a diagram illustrating a state where one end face 51A of the light guide 51 included in the second embodiment is viewed in the light guide direction. The second embodiment is different from the first reference example described above only in that scatterers 455 and 456 are formed on both side surfaces 51E and 51F of the light guide 51 in place of the scatterers 55 and 56 of FIG. 23A. Therefore, in the second embodiment, the same components as those in the first reference example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and differences from the first reference example will be mainly described.

In the second embodiment, the side surface 51E of the light guide 51 has a first region 51E-1 adjacent to the upper surface 51C and a second region that is separated from the upper surface 51C than the first region 51E-1. A region 51E-2. A scatterer is formed in the first region 51E-1. On the other hand, the scatterer 455 is not formed in the second region 51E-2. The scatterer 455 has a height dimension (Y-direction dimension) of 3 mm, and a plurality of the scatterers 455 are formed at intervals in the light guide direction X. The height of the scatterer 455 is not limited to 3 mm, but may be 2 mm or 4 mm, for example, and is not particularly limited.

  Further, the side surface 51F of the light guide 51 includes a first region 51F-1 adjacent to the upper surface 51C and a second region 51F- separated from the upper surface 51C than the first region 51F-1. 2. A scatterer is formed in the first region 51F-1. On the other hand, the scatterer 456 is not formed in the second region 51F-2. The scatterer 456 has a height dimension (Y-direction dimension) of 3 mm, and a plurality of the scatterers 456 are formed at intervals in the light guide direction X. The height of the scatterer 456 is not limited to 3 mm, but may be 2 mm or 4 mm, for example, and is not particularly limited.

The emitted light intensity distribution of the second embodiment is shown by a characteristic K71 drawn by a solid line in FIG. 26B. In FIG. 26B, the horizontal axis indicates the position coordinate in the width direction (Z direction), and Z = 0 indicates the center of the light guide 51 in the width direction (Z direction). In FIG. 26B, the vertical axis represents the relative intensity of the emitted light. More specifically, the intensity distribution of the emitted light having the characteristic K71 shown in FIG. 26B shows the intensity distribution in a plane separated from the upper surface 51C of the light guide 51 by 14 mm in the Y direction. On the other hand, a characteristic K32 drawn by a broken line in FIG. 26B shows the emitted light intensity distribution of the comparative example shown in FIG. 23B.

As apparent from FIG. 26B, the characteristic K71 of the second embodiment in which the scatterers 58, 455, 456 are formed in the first regions 51E-1, 51F-1 on the upper surface 51C and the both side surfaces 51E, 51F is only the bottom surface 51D. It can be seen that the diffused emitted light intensity distribution is higher than the characteristic K32 of the comparative example in which the scatterer 54 is formed.

(Real施例3)
Next, FIG. 27A, with reference to FIG. 27B, illustrating the real施例3 as a modification of the second reference example described above. Figure 27A is a diagram showing a picture obtained by viewing one end surface 51A of the light guide 51 with the actual施例3 of this the light guide direction. Real施例This 3 only in that the formation of the reflector 555, 556 on the diffuser 55, 56 in FIG. 23A is different from the second reference example described above. Therefore, the actual施例3 of this, the same components as the first reference example described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, primarily referring to differences from the first reference example described above.

In actual施例3 of this, the side surface 51E of the light guide 51 is first spaced apart from the top surface 51C than the first region 51E-1 of the first region 51E-1 Toko adjacent to the upper surface 51C 2 regions 51E-2. The scatterer 55 is formed over both the first region 51E-1 and the second region 51E-2. On the other hand, the reflector 555 is formed only in a region facing the first region 51E-1 on the side surface 51E of the light guide 51. The reflector 555 reflects light incident from the light guide 51 through the scatterer 55. That is, the reflector 555 shields light incident from the light guide 51 from the outside. Thereby, it is possible to realize a light source module that can optimize the amount of light emitted from the side surface 51E so as to suppress a rapid change in illuminance.

In actual施例3 This, the reflector 555 has a height dimension (Y-direction dimension) is the 3 mm, although continuously extending in the light guiding direction X, height of the reflector 555 Of course, the dimension is not limited to 3 mm, and may be 2 mm or 4 mm, for example, and is not particularly limited.

Moreover, the actual施例3 of this, the side surface 51F of the light guide 51 is spaced apart from the first region 51F-1 first region top surface 51C than 51F-1 of Toko adjacent to the upper surface 51C And a second region 51F-2. The scatterer 56 is formed over both the first region 51F-1 and the second region 51F-2. On the other hand, the reflector 556 is formed only in a region facing the first region 51F-1 on the side surface 51F of the light guide 51. The reflector 556 reflects light incident from the light guide 51 through the scatterer 56. That is, the reflector 556 shields light incident from the light guide 51 from the outside. Thereby, it is possible to realize a light source module capable of optimizing the amount of light emitted from the side surface 51F so as to suppress a rapid change in illuminance.

In actual施例3 This, the reflector 556 has a height dimension (Y-direction dimension) is the 3 mm, although continuously extending in the light guiding direction X, height of the reflector 556 The thickness is not limited to 3 mm, and may be 2 mm or 4 mm, for example, and is not particularly limited.

The emitted light intensity distribution of the actual施例3 this shows a characteristic K81 drawn by the solid line in FIG. 27B. In FIG. 27B, the horizontal axis indicates the position coordinates in the width direction (Z direction), and Z = 0 indicates the center of the light guide 51 in the width direction (Z direction). In FIG. 27B, the vertical axis represents the relative intensity of the emitted light. More specifically, the intensity distribution of the emitted light having the characteristic K81 shown in FIG. 27B shows the intensity distribution in a plane separated from the bottom surface 51D of the light guide 51 by 14 mm in the reverse Y direction. On the other hand, a characteristic K32 drawn by a broken line in FIG. 27B shows the emitted light intensity distribution of the comparative example shown in FIG. 23B.

As is apparent from FIG. 27B, scatterers 58, 55, and 56 are formed on the upper surface 51C and the both side surfaces 51E and 51F, and the first regions 51E-1 and 51F-1 of the both side surfaces 51E and 51F are formed in the regions. characteristics K81 of the formation of the reflector 555, 556 real example 1 is that in comparison with the comparative example of characteristics K32 forming the scatterer 54 only on the bottom surface 51D, shows a high diffusion of the emitted light intensity distribution I understand.

(Real施例4)
Next, FIG. 28A, with reference to FIG. 28B, illustrating the real施例4 as a modification of the first reference example described above. Figure 28A is a diagram showing a picture obtained by viewing one end surface 51A of the light guide 51 with the actual施例4 of this in the light guide direction. This real施例4, only in that the formation of the reflector 555, 556 on the diffuser 55, 56 in FIG. 23A is different from the first reference example described above. Therefore, the actual施例4 This, the same components as the first reference example described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, mainly referring to differences from the first reference example described above.

In the real施例4, the side surface 51E of the light guide 51 is first spaced apart from the first region 51E-1 first top 51C than the region 51E-1 of Toko adjacent to the upper surface 51C 2 Area 51E-2. The scatterer 55 is formed over both the first region 51E-1 and the second region 51E-2. On the other hand, the reflector 555 is formed only in a region facing the first region 51E-1 on the side surface 51E of the light guide 51. The reflector 555 reflects light incident from the light guide 51 through the scatterer 55. That is, the reflector 555 shields light incident from the light guide 51 from the outside. Thereby, it is possible to realize a light source module that can optimize the amount of light emitted from the side surface 51E so as to suppress a rapid change in illuminance.

In the actual施例4, the reflector 555 has a height dimension (Y-direction dimension) is the 3 mm, although continuously extending in the light guiding direction X, the height of the reflector 555 Of course, the dimension is not limited to 3 mm, and may be 2 mm or 4 mm, for example, and is not particularly limited.

Further, in the actual施例4, the side surface 51F of the light guide 51 is spaced apart from the top surface 51C than the first region 51F-1 of the first region 51F-1 Toko adjacent to the upper surface 51C A second region 51F-2. The scatterer 56 is formed over both the first region 51F-1 and the second region 51F-2. On the other hand, the reflector 556 is formed only in a region facing the first region 51F-1 on the side surface 51F of the light guide 51. The reflector 556 reflects light incident from the light guide 51 through the scatterer 56. That is, the reflector 556 shields light incident from the light guide 51 from the outside. Thereby, it is possible to realize a light source module capable of optimizing the amount of light emitted from the side surface 51F so as to suppress a rapid change in illuminance.

In the actual施例4, the reflector 556 has a height dimension (Y-direction dimension) of 3 mm, and continuously extending in the light guiding direction X. Of course, the height of the reflector 556 is not limited to 3 mm, and may be 2 mm or 4 mm, for example, and is not particularly limited.

The emitted light intensity distribution of the actual施例4 shows a characteristic K91 drawn by the solid line in FIG. 28B. In FIG. 28B, the horizontal axis indicates the position coordinate in the width direction (Z direction), and Z = 0 indicates the center of the light guide 51 in the width direction (Z direction). In FIG. 28B, the vertical axis represents the relative intensity of the emitted light. More specifically, the intensity distribution of the emitted light having the characteristic K91 shown in FIG. 28B shows the intensity distribution in a plane separated from the upper surface 51C of the light guide 51 by 14 mm in the Y direction. On the other hand, a characteristic K32 drawn by a broken line in FIG. 28B shows the emitted light intensity distribution of the comparative example shown in FIG. 23B.

As apparent from FIG. 28B, scatterers 54, 55, and 56 are formed on the upper surface 51C and both side surfaces 51E and 51F, and the first regions 51E-1 and 51F-1 of the both side surfaces 51E and 51F are formed in regions facing each other. characteristics K91 of the formation of the reflector 555, 556 real施例2, as compared with the comparative example of characteristics K32 forming the scatterer 54 only on the bottom surface 51D, that shows a high diffusion of the emitted light intensity distribution min The

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a light source module that is thin and has uniform luminance. The light source module of the present invention can be used as a general illumination light source or a backlight light source of a liquid crystal display device.

2,3 Light source 11, 21, 26, 51, 61, 66 Light guide 11A, 11B, 21A, 21B, 26A, 26B, 51A, 51B End face 61A, 61B, 66A, 66B End face 11C, 21C, 51C, 61C Top face 11D, 21D, 51D, 61D Bottom surface 11E, 11F, 21E, 51E, 51F, 61E Side surface 51E-1, 51F-1 First region 51E-2, 51F-2 Second region 14, 15, 34, 35, 54,55,56,58,74,75 Scatterer 355,356,455,456 Scatterer 36,76,555,556 Reflector 38,88 Light source module 40,90 Substrate 40A, 90A Groove 40B, 40C, 90B, 90C Edge 40E, 90E Outgoing surface 201,501 Adhesive layer 202,502 Transparent film

Claims (18)

A light source;
A light guide having at least one incident surface on which light from the light source is incident and an exit surface for emitting the light incident from the incident surface;
E Bei a scatterer which scatters the light incident on the light guide member with formed adjacent contact surface of the light guide adjacent to the incident surface of the light guide,
The scatterer that scatters the light incident on the light guide is formed on at least three adjacent surfaces that are adjacent to the incident surface of the light guide and continue to the incident surface,
Two adjacent surfaces on both sides of one of the three adjacent surfaces are
A first region adjacent to the one adjacent surface; and a second region further away from the one adjacent surface than the first region, the first and second regions In one of the regions, a reflector that reflects light from the light guide is formed on the scatterer, and in the other of the first and second regions, the scatterer is formed on the scatterer. A light source module characterized in that a reflector for reflecting light from the light guide is not formed . A light source;
A light guide having at least one incident surface on which light from the light source is incident and an exit surface for emitting the light incident from the incident surface;
E Bei a scatterer which scatters the light incident on the light guide member with formed adjacent contact surface of the light guide adjacent to the incident surface of the light guide,
The scatterer that scatters the light incident on the light guide is formed on at least three adjacent surfaces that are adjacent to the incident surface of the light guide and continue to the incident surface,
Two adjacent surfaces on both sides of one of the three adjacent surfaces are
The first region adjacent to the one adjacent surface and not formed with the scatterer and the first region are separated from the one adjacent surface and the scatterer is formed. A light source module comprising: a second region . The light source module according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The scatterer is formed in a linear pattern, and at least one of the line width and the line-to-line distance of the scatterer of the linear pattern changes according to a distance away from the light source. A light source module. The light source module according to claim 3 ,
The light source module according to claim 1, wherein the linear pattern of the scatterer has a region in which the line width of the scatterer increases as the distance away from the light source increases. The light source module according to claim 3 ,
The light source module according to claim 1, wherein the linear pattern of the scatterer has a region in which a distance between lines of the scatterer decreases as the distance away from the light source increases. The light source module according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The scatterer is formed in a spot-like pattern, and at least one of the size and density of the scatterer of the spot-like pattern changes according to a distance away from the light source. A light source module. The light source module according to claim 6 ,
The spotted pattern of the scatterer has a region in which the size of the scatterer increases as the distance away from the light source increases. The light source module according to claim 6 ,
The spotted pattern of the scatterer has a region in which the density of the scatterer increases as the distance away from the light source increases. The light source module according to any one of claims 1 to 8 ,
The light source module, wherein the scatterers formed on the two adjacent surfaces are formed in the same pattern. The light source module according to any one of claims 1 to 8 ,
The scatterer formation pattern formed on one of the two adjacent surfaces is different from the scatterer formation pattern formed on the other of the two adjacent surfaces. A featured light source module. In the light source module according to claim 1, any one of 10,
In the light guide, the cross-sectional shape by an orthogonal plane extending in a direction orthogonal to the light guide direction for guiding light incident from the incident surface is a polygonal shape, and the cross-sectional area by the orthogonal plane is Is constant in the light guide direction. In the light source module according to claim 1, any one of 10,
The light guide has a polygonal cross-sectional shape by a plane orthogonal to the light guide direction for guiding light incident from the incident surface, and is orthogonal to the direction orthogonal to the light guide direction. A light source module, wherein an area of a cross section by a plane decreases toward the light guide direction. In the light source module of claim 1 1 or 1 2,
The light guide is
The light source module, wherein a dimension in a normal direction of the emission surface is at least one tenth of a dimension in a width direction orthogonal to the normal direction on the orthogonal plane. A plurality of light source modules according to claim 1, any one of 1 to 3,
Each light source module is arranged in the board | substrate with the direction of the adjacent surface of the light guide in which the said scatterer was formed aligned. The light source device according to claim 1 4,
The first distance between the light source module located at one end of the array and the edge of the substrate at one end of the array is such that the light source module located at the other end of the array and the substrate at the other end of the array Shorter than the second distance between the edges, and
The light source module located at one end of the array has the scatterer not formed on a surface facing the edge of the substrate on one end side of the array, and the light source module located at the other end of the array The light source device, wherein the scatterer is formed on a surface facing the edge of the substrate on the other end side of the array. In the light source module according to claim 1, any one of 1 to 3,
The light source module, wherein the scatterer is formed on a bottom surface of the light guide opposite to the exit surface and two side surfaces adjacent to the entrance surface and adjacent to the exit surface and the bottom surface. The light source module according to claim 16 ,
The light source module, wherein the scatterers formed on the two side surfaces are formed in the same pattern. Any one of claims 1 1 3, or electronic apparatus comprising the light source module according to claim 1 6 or 1 7.

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